When was claudius killed

Claudius was sufficiently a figure of fun to survive the murderous reign of his nephew Caligula. Found hiding behind curtains in the palace, shaking with fright, when Caligula was murdered in AD 41, he was made emperor by the Praetorian Guard.

The Senate, which had meanwhile been discussing the restoration of the republic, was forced resentfully to acquiesce. It was Claudius who annexed Britain to the Empire and in 43 he crossed the Channel himself to see his legionaries take Camulodunum Colchester. The coup failed, Messalina killed herself and Silius was executed. Claudius told the Praetorian Guard to knock him on the head if he ever married again, but within a few months he took as his fourth wife another unscrupulous and seductive beauty much younger than himself, his niece Agrippina, a sister of Caligula.

The Senate had to pass a special decree to authorise what would otherwise have been an illegal incestuous union. Tacitus records Claudius once saying when the worse for drink that he seemed destined to bear the misbehaviour of his wives and then punish it.

On 12 October AD 54, the year old emperor presided over a banquet on the Capitol, with his taster, the eunuch Halotus, in attendance. He ate his final meal in his palace the following day.

The official story was that he was stricken while watching a performance by some actors. She supposedly carried out numerous affairs until A.

Fearing that the pair planned to murder him and install Gaius on the throne, Claudius had both of them executed. The emperor swore he would never marry again, yet only a year later he wed the beautiful Agrippina, his niece.

Agrippina proved even more treacherous than Messalina, and is said to have manipulated Claudius into naming her son Nero as his successor before engineering his assassination. Ancient chroniclers say Claudius was killed after ingesting a poisonous mushroom, but they differ on certain key facts.

The historian Cassius Dio claims Agrippina procured the deadly fungus from a poisoner named Locusta and served it to Claudius during a dinner at the palace. Suetonius mentions both stories as a possibility, but argues the second dose of poison was mixed with a batch of gruel. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you.

Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. October 13, , by Will Leveritt. AE sestertius of Claudius. Image courtesy Lauren Cole. Tiberius Claudius Drusus later Ti. Through his maternal grandmother, Octavia Minor, he was a great-nephew of Augustus. His father, Drusus, and older brother, Germanicus, both had great military reputations. He was denied the chance to pursue a public career or hold any political office until his nephew Caligula who was emperor at the time made him his co-consul in AD He paid them the huge sum of 15, sesterces each.

He was the first to offer such a donative and in so doing set a precedent his successors were obliged to follow. Although he lacked the necessary political experience, upon his accession Claudius proved himself to be a capable administrator of the Roman Empire.